This striking story of a middle class Black family in a small Northeastern city is told on two levels: events that transpire on one hot June weekend and flashbacks to the memories of the visiting grandmother as a young woman. She recalls the three men, two black and one white, who are the fathers of her three children. A resourceful woman, she feels some regrets, no shame and feels she has had a useful life. Lou, an oversensitive boy who is about to graduate from high school, worships the grandmother. The resolution of his problems and his acceptance of his sexuality and blackness form the backbone of the play.

"The people emerge as richly complex human beings... Storytelling with a passion ... [that has] all the old fashioned virtues." - The New York Times

THE FIRST BREEZE OF SUMMER first appeared at the St. Marks Playhouse in New York City on March 2, 1975. Directed by Douglas Turner Ward.

Characters

CASTING

8m, 6f

CASTING ATTRIBUTES

Multicultural casting

GREMMAR - Milton and Edna's mother, in her 70sNATE EDWARDS - black male, in his early to middle 20sLOU EDWARDS - Nate's brother, seventeen or eighteenAUNT EDNA - black female, in her mid-fiftiesMILTON EDWARDS - Edna's brother, father of Lou and Nate, mid-fiftiesHATTIE - Milton's wife, her early to mid-fiftiesLUCRETIA - the young Gremmar, her late teensSAM GREEN - black male, his mid to late twentiesBRITON WOODWARD - white male, his late teens or very early twentiesREVERED MOSELY - black male, his early sixtiesHOPE - Nate's girlfriend, black, her early twentiesJOE DRAKE - white male, in his mid-fortiesGLORIA TOWNES - black female, in her late thirtiesHARPER EDWARDS - black male, in hid mid-thirties

﻿For the stage, Leslie Lee is the author of numerous plays that have
been produced in New York City and regionally. His plays include:
The War Party, Colored People’s Time, Blues in a Broken Tongue, The
Rabbit’s Foot; Black Eagles, Hannah Davis; a new version of the musical
Golden Boy, in collaboration with Charles Strouse and Lee Adams,
Martin, also in collaboration with Charles Strouse; a ... view full profile